With Nothing Other Than A Cold Glass of Strawberry Milk...

Violet looked at him. "Are you sure? I wouldn't want to impose." Especially since she was considered a high-risk. Not that she would do anything to Darren, no, she was a danger to herself; not to others.

Darren: "Naww, really, its no problem. I enjoy company." i said. "Its been a while since ive had anyone to hang out with." i admitted.

She nodded, still bearing the weight of uncertainty, following him out. There was a high chance she would be making even more of a fool out of herself as the evening progressed.

Darren: I led the way to my room and opened the door for her. "Here we are." i said. The place was fairly cluttered, random pens, pencils, markers, paints, brushes, and sketchbooks strewn about. There were finished works hanging on the walls and a few easels with half-finished paintings over on one side of the room.

"Wow," was all she said, taking in the sight around her before glancing back at Darren. "I like it here," she told him with a slight smile.

Darren: I smiled. "Im glad. You're welcome to visit whenever you want." i said. I dug around and found some materials for her drawing and found one of my really good sketchbooks, opening the original as a reference sketch, beginning to work. "If i can keep my focus, i should have this done in a few hours. You can stick around or go, whichever you prefer." i said.

Violet took a seat, resting against the frame of his door with her knees drawn up to her chest, arms around her legs, like in the hallway. It was one of her more frequent positions she found herself in.

Darren: I worked efficiently and with an abnormally large amount of focus and was soon finished, all inked and coloured and shaded neatly. "There. All done." i said, carefully removing the page from the sketchbook and handing it to her.

She held the paper in ginger hands, marveling over the piece in complete silence for a long moment, looking up at him. "I can keep this?" she asked, her smooth voice holding...not doubt, but certainly something close to it.

Darren: I nodded. "Yepp! Its all yours." i said, smiling. She seemed.... perpetually nervous and uncertain or something. But it made me want to help her.

Violet smiled faintly, pulling the paper against her chest and holding it close. "Thank you. This is...it's lovely." Lovely didn't even begin to describe how beautiful it was. Darren was certainly an artist, in every sense of the word.

Darren: My smile widened. "Thanks. Im glad you like it." i said. "I enjoy being able to draw or paint for people."

She nodded, but kept her eyes on the paper. It was gratifying, she imagined, to watch someone’s eyes glitter, or their mouth curl into a smile when witnessing your work. She could remember being a child and wanting nothing more than just that from her busybody parents. To see what she was capable of. Then one day her mother was killed, her father didn’t come home, and suddenly she was here, enrolled in the Malchance Attend Academy.

Over four years already. Violet breathed out slowly, closing her eyes a moment before looking up at Darren again. “Well…thank you. I’ll make you something soon, too.” She began to stand, having slight difficulty before steadily having her feet beneath her. Her face caught in a quick wince, hand pressing firmly against her side while the other came to cover her mouth, coughing deeply.

Darren: I smled. "Really? Id like that." i said happily. Sudden concern gripped me as Violet suddenly appeared ill. "Whoah... are... are you okay?!" i asked, worry and concern evident in my tone and facial expression.

“M-Mhm,” she managed to choke out, but didn’t stop coughing for a few more minutes, and when she finally did, she was barely able to keep her eyes open, let alone stand. “Another reason I don’t get away from my room much…my body is weak. I can’t withstand a lot, and when my energy runs out…” she trailed off, “C-can I, uhm…I promise I won’t stay, I just… ” Her dark navy blue colored eyes found the bed he was just sitting on before.

Darren: "Oh! No problem! Go ahead!" i said, catching on to her meaning. "If you need rest, its no big deal. Id rather have you crash here for a bit than collapse trying to get back to your room or something." i said.

Violet slunk away from the doorframe, moving to the bed. She was careful to place aside the sketchbooks and various things, but just to make enough space for her. She didn’t need much as it was. And it wasn’t as if she’d actually be sleeping anyway… “Sorry. I promise I won’t…I won’t stay long.”

Darren: I smiled a bit. "Its okay, and please, stay as long as you need." i said. I considered working on finishing a painting while she rested.

She watched him attentively for a bit before speaking up again. “Darren?” she questioned, “Why…why are you being so nice to me?” Violet knew it could’ve come out better than that, but she wanted to know nonetheless.

Darren: I stopped the process of preparing my paints and looked over, blinking in surprise. "Uh..... why would i be mean to you? You havent done anything to me that would merit my dislike. I enjoy meeting new people and you seem like a nice person. So why would i be mean?" i said.

She thought about it, realizing that all of her possible replies sounded stupid, even to herself. "I...I don't know," she said, "It's just...new."

Darren: "Really? That's a surprise." i said. A thought occurred to me suddenly. "Hey.... would you mind horribly if i painted you?" i asked. The lighting was really good and i was getting lots of artistic inspiration from it.

Her eyes widened a fraction, suddenly becoming very self-conscious. "Me?" The word slipped from her mouth almost unknowingly, blinking a couple of times. "No," she said slowly, "I-I don't mind, but why? I'm not a very interesting subject..."

Darren: "You lie. You are, indeed, a VERY interesting subject." i said, nabbing a blank canvas. I sketched some details in quickly and propped it on an easel, beginnign to paint.

( She's like, "._. What just happened?" xD )

Violet merely stared at Darren, at a loss for words. Apparently she was interesting. To Darren at least, it seemed. Her head spun persistently, but she kept focused. "Do you think it's possible for one to graduate from the Academy?" she asked, referring to the...other half that came with enrolling into the school.